Beaver Fever Friday – Rachel Heittola and Rumer Flatness – Womens Basketball

Women’s Basketball makes North Dakota trip to face UMary, Minot State

Bemidji State closes out the 2021 calendar year with a road trip to take on the University of Mary on Friday, Dec. 17 and Minot State University on Saturday, Dec. 18. BSU and UMary begin the weekend at 7:30 p.m. from the McDowell Activity Center in Bismarck, N.D., before a 5:30 p.m. tip-off against MiSU at the MSU Dome in Minot, N.D.

The Series vs. UMary

UMary leads the all-time series against Bemidji State, 23-7.
During the 2021 season series, BSU took a sweep with wins of 66-61 on Jan. 22 and 58-53 on Jan. 23 in Bismarck.
Bemidji State is riding its first two-game winning streak in the series.
Bemidji State and UMary first met Nov. 30, 1984, an 80-75 win by BSU.

The Series vs. Minot State

Minot State leads the all-time series against Bemidji State, 15-9.
BSU swept MiSU in 2021, taking wins of 77-63 on Jan. 29 and 70-61 on Jan. 30 in Bemidji.
Bemidji State is currently on its only three-game winning streak in the series history.
Bemidji State and Minot State first met Dec. 9, 1988, a 77-74 win by Minot State.

BSU earned a weekend sweep over Minnesota State University Moorhead, 69-68, and Northern State University, 66-50.The Beavers have a three-game winning streak in the series against the Dragons for the first time since the 1989-90 season while BSU also knocked off a 14-game losing streak to NSU. Bemidji State earned a weekend sweep of the NSIC North foes for the first time since the two programs became travel partners during the 2012-13 season.

Bemidji State trailed for nearly 36 minutes Friday night against MSU Moorhead before battling back and taking a late lead. BSU trailed MSUM by four, 65-61, with 1:16 to play and took the lead following a 3-pointer from senior guard Sydney Zerr, a steal by senior guard Trinity Yoder and two free throws by sophomore center Rachael Heittola with 34 seconds to play. The Beavers forced the Dragons to miss three of their last four field goals while BSU put in five of six free throws to seal the win.

Heittola and senior guard Brooklyn Bachmann led BSU with 15 points each, while junior guard Maddie Schires added 11 points with three 3-pointers off the bench. Bachmann added six rebounds, three assists and one block while Yoder led the team with seven rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Bemidji State jumped ahead of Northern State in the second quarter, scoring 15 points off turnovers to hold a 43-23 lead at halftime. Zerr hit four 3-pointers in the second quarter while Heittola added 18 of her team-high 22 points in the second period. The Beavers outscored the Wolves in three of four quarters, taking a game-high 26-point, 58-32 lead late in the third quarter.

Heittola went 8-of-10 on field goals, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range, to record her fourth 20-point game of the season. She was named the NSIC North Division Player of the Week for the second time this season and fifth time in her career after averaging 19.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 2.0 assists per game against MSUM, NSU and the University of Minnesota Crooskton.

BSU shot 46.4 percent from the field (26-56), 34.8 percent from long range (8-23) and totaled 18 assists on its 26 field goals. The Beavers gave away a season-low 12 turnovers compared to 17 for the Wolves.